Four hours after they landed in the UK, MetalTalk favourites Hillbilly Vegas were sightseeing around Windsor as they build up to tomorrow’s slots at the awesome Maid Of Stone Festival.
We caught up with the boys, who were looking remarkably fresh after the journey. “Well, we got the sun in our eyes,” vocalist Steve Harris said. “It gives you a nice, beautiful glow. We’re in beautiful Windsor. Where we live, it’s quite hot and you get a tan because you cremate as soon as you get out in the sun.”
It is a busy month for the band, who are so used to visiting our shores that they know to get the weather comments in first. There is a real love affair for Hillbilly Vegas and the UK, something that is reciprocated.
Steve says, to nods from the band, it is the people over here that make playing in the UK special for Hillbilly Vegas. “True music fans that become your friends and your loyal followers,” he says. “We see the same faces at every show, and that’s such a blessing to us. It’s such a special thing.
“The relationship that you people have with music here is just absolutely amazing, and it’s something that is, for lack of a better term, old school. From when we were young, we noticed how people were just so passionate. And that passion here in the UK is just unmatched.”
In my recent conversation with Chris Robertson, he reflected the same thoughts inside the Black Stone Cherry camp. And with Lynyrd Skynyrd in the country [interview to follow here, too], these are just three examples of the great affection the UK has for American rock.
“It goes back to Lynyrd Skynyrd when they first came over here,” Steve says. “You guys embraced them and never let go of them, and you’ve embraced everyone that’s come since then. We know it. This is where every band that has a little southern twang to them in their rock ‘n’ roll wants to come and play because we know that you people get it. You understand it, and you love it.”
The first ever shows here in the UK for Hillbilly Vegas were at The Troubadour in November 2022. That was a flying visit to play at a place with such a historic background. “We always look at that stuff,” Steve says, “and we’ve been very fortunate to play a lot of historic places. But that one was truly special.
“You know, there are a few places that you have on your bucket list, and The Troubadour was definitely one of them.”
Sunday finds Hillbilly Vegas in Wolverhampton with Blaze Bayley and Wolfsbane. “I chatted to Blaze as well the other week,” Steve says. “He’s a character, isn’t he? We were at The Planet Rock thing back in November, and we got to spend some time with Blaze.”
“I saw Blaze for a while after the gig,” drummer Gunnar Molton said. “We just sat and watched Uriah Heep and hung out. Me, Blaze and Chris Holmes just hung out for hours.”
“That’s a surreal thing,” Steve says. “It was great. Blaze has been such an amazing supporter of ours, so we were really happy to jump on a show when Blaze asked us to come and do it. We said, absolutely.”
Maid Of Stone will find the band playing two sets. “All electric one Friday and then Friday evening in the VIP tent we’re doing an acoustic,” Steve says.
For those who have not seen Hillbilly Vegas before, I ask Steve what they can expect. “Oh, you never know what to expect with us,” he smiles. “But a lot of high energy, a lot of fun. We don’t take any of this stuff too serious. Listen, Feels Good. We wrote that song for a reason because that’s what music and entertainment should be. It should be entertainment. It should feel good, and it shouldn’t be anything but that.
“That’s what we like to bring. We wanna leave people with the memory, and when they listen to your music, hey, remember that time we… That’s the greatest thing I love when I hear a song. When I hear a great classic song, the first thing I think of is where I was when I heard it the first time or an association. That’s what we want, and I think we get a lot of that.”
Reflecting back on The Troubadour show, particularly because it was acoustic, it gave the band a chance to just do what they wanted to do. It was really laid back and gave them the chance to be real storytellers.
“Which is what we get to do this time,” Steve says, “because we’re doing that three times this time on this tour as well as the electric shows. We’re doing three acoustics. Some of your favourite TV shows or whatever are always character-driven. It is not always the story, it’s the character, and that’s us. We like to be character-driven. We like to get to know you, and we like people to get to know us, and we invest in each other. We can have a long relationship.”
The lineup is the same as last November, and features Gunnar Molton on drums, along with bassist Todd Ronning, Geraldo Dominelli on keyboards and guitarists Stacy Thornburg and Johnny Reed.
“Gunnar is a lifelong friend of ours,” Steve says. “He’s from our area, and we’ve known him forever. He’s played in a bunch of bands you’ve probably heard of, including Texas Hippie Coalition for a few years, and of course, Todd played in a little band called, uh, what was it?” [smiles]
“Bad Company,” Gunnar answers.
“Todd will be with The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction in November with Bad Company,” Steve says. “Since they’re not touring right now, Todd has put his energy into us and with Paul Rogers’ full blessing. It has just been such an amazing thing to have Todd.”
“It’s working out great,” Todd says.
“Plus, having Paul Rogers support,” Steve says, “who is one of our all-time favourites. Bad Company, Mick Ralphs, all of them, one of our all-time favourite bands. Honestly, I tell people all the time they’re one of the greatest Southern Rock bands there ever was.”
With so much soul in Bad Company, there does seem to be a kindred spirit with Hillbilly Vegas.
“There was even before we got with Todd,” Steve says. “Much more now because of writing together for this new album we’re working on. Todd brings a lot of that same sensibility and that same style and flair in the Bad Company music. It’s been a great joy working with Todd as a writer now and not just as a live player in the band.”
It is poignant due to the sad loss of Mick Ralphs last month. “I was hoping to visit him while I was here on this trip,” Todd says, “because I missed him the last one when he had to go to hospital. That was a tough one. I was able to visit him on a trip before that. Mick’s passing was a tough one to take, but he had been bedridden for so long.
“Our last Bad Company show with Mick was, I think, 2016 at The O2. That was the last show, and he was in great spirits. He played great that day. He actually came up to me in sound check and said, ‘So what do you think? What’s it sound like?’ I said, sounds like Bad Company. Mick goes, all right.”
I mention that I saw Mick with his solo band about 12-14 years ago. He was a great player. “I met Dicky, the bass player from that band,” Todd says. “Mick had written a bunch of songs, too, that we were looking at. But, I guess they will never get touched now. He was doing that with those guys, but he was thinking of transferring it to Bad Company at the time. But it never got to that.”
Like Black Stone Cherry, Hillbilly have slotted in so well in the UK. “We’ve played with Black Stone Cherry a couple of times,” Steve says. “We actually have a relationship with John Fred’s dad and uncle. We were mentored by The Kentucky Headhunters early in our career. We had the same management and record label early on. We wrote some songs together with them.
“We played with The Headhunters, who were just wonderful. That’s when we first heard about the guys in Black Stone Cherry, because they were just coming up at that time.”
Those who see Hillbilly Vegas on tour will notice immediately the great chemistry they have on stage. “When you start a band, way in the beginning, you’re just a bunch of guys that get together with friends around town and you’re jamming and playing. You don’t consider living on the road 24/7 with them, and sometimes you learn that part just doesn’t work out.
“It’s unfortunate, but sometimes you realise your relationship is much better if you don’t live together 24/7. That’s all I’ll say about that.”
For now, Hillbilly Vegas are set to enjoy all that the UK can bring. “Everywhere we go, we try to find great places to eat and things to see,” Steve says. “Today, we landed at 3 o’clock and we checked into our hotel and came to Windsor because we wanted to have a meal on the water and enjoy it.
“At some point, you’ve got to admit that you’re in this business for the perks, not so much for the money.” [laughs]
“We’re hoping to catch up with some friends. Dave ‘Bucket’ Colwell was with Skynyrd, we just heard, in Brighton this weekend, jamming with them. But we’re going to see him and, of course, DeanHoward from Cats In Space.
“We were so disappointed to hear that the [ELO] gig got cancelled. But Dean is a great friend of ours. The guys at the label [Conquest Music] have been great to us, and they’re the reason we keep coming back.
“Those guys, they work tirelessly, Alan [Bambrough] and Cliff [Evans]. They work tirelessly and pour resources, energy, and time into making this work. We wouldn’t be here without them. If you want to talk to a couple of guys who just love music, it’s those guys.
“I don’t think they know anything about making money either [laughs]. They just love music. They said they just want to leave the world with better music out there, and we’re thrilled to be a part of that.”
“Music has been a passion since I was a kid,” Stacy Thornburg said. “I know it has been for Gunnar as well. It’s been a big part of our lives. The simple fact that there are people out there who can play music but can’t create music makes me feel very fortunate that we do what we do. So that’s been another blessing. And finding the guys to create it with and having the chemistry that we do is amazing.”
It is clear that the experience Hillbilly Vegas have had as a band and as individuals, is the things people do dream about.
“I like the second British invasion of the ’70s music,” Steve says. “That’s my favourite. Of course, Bad Company. Stacey is our big Glenn Hughes fan and Deep Purple. Gunnar’s got the Sabbath shirt on today, and Todd obviously as a member of Bad Company.
“Oh my God, we got to spend time with the guys in Uriah Heep and became good friends with them. We stayed in contact with them. We love those guys. That is priceless to us. Getting to meet people that we grew up just loving and have so much respect for, and finding out that most of them are great guys and are in it for the same reason.”
“The old story about don’t ever meet your heroes,” Stacy says. “We’ve not been disappointed yet.”
“We’ve had a great time,” Steve says. “Even the three months we spent with Ted Nugent on a music experience alone. Ted is a lover of music, a walking encyclopaedia, and a respecter of music and an ass kicking guitarist. It was such an amazing experience to be with him every night and hear Stranglehold come from his fingers every night.
“Somebody once said, when you stand next to Ted Nugent on stage, you feel this weird energy and this weird heat. I didn’t understand that. Then Ted asked me to come up and sing with him one night, and by God, if you didn’t. It was amazing performing with that guy. He does to a guitar what nobody else can do. So our experiences have been too many to count sometimes, and we’re just so thankful for them.”
With shows at Greystones in Sheffield (23 July), Face Bar in Reading (24 July) and the Rock ‘N’ Blues Custom Show, Derbyshire (25 July), the band finish up at Steelhouse Festival (26 July).
“We’re looking forward to Steelhouse,” Steve says. “It’s exciting and there are several bands on those shows that we haven’t met. Lita Ford and W.A.S.P at Steelhouse, that’s really cool. Never seen him, never met him.
“But we’re also with the Quireboys in a couple of places and we’re great friends with Willie Dowling, Spike and Luke, [Morley].
“Willie Dowling mixed our UK single, Long Way Back. Willie is a great guy, and so we made a lot of friends, and that’s really fun. It’s a lot of fun for us to come back and play.
“Of course, I’ll look out and I’ll see faces of people who truly want to be entertained, and I’ll tell you what. We say, where I come from, that’s like saying stick to a hound dog because that’s what you get when that happens.
“It’s people-driven, character-driven, and that’s what we care about.”
The Hillbilly Vegas single Feels Good is out now. For more details, visit slinky.to/FeelsGood
Maid Of Stone: A Festival That Rocks
Now in its third year, Maid Of Stone has firmly established itself as a must-attend event for rock fans. With a wide variety of music styles covered, their festival’s reputation continues to grow.
Set to be a highlight of Festival Season, MetalTalk will have more news very soon. All our coverage for 2025 will be found at MetalTalk.net/maid-of-stone.
Tickets Available Now. For full details and to grab your tickets, visit MaidOfStoneFestival.com.
MetalTalk’s Maid Of Stone 2024 coverage can be found at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/maid-of-stone-festival-2024.
For MetalTalk’s Maid Of Stone 2023 coverage, visit https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/maid-of-stone-festival-2023.
